1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to painting rollers, and more particularly to a roller having internal feed features useful with a pressurized supply.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Rollers for applying paint and other coating materials have been used for many years. Those most commonly used are dipped in paint (usually in a roller tray) and then applied to a wall or other surface to be coated.
Considerable effort has been directed toward rollers which need not be dipped. Some systems apply paint to the outside of the roller, otherwise than by dipping. Examples are found in U.S. patents as follows: U.S. Pat. No. 3,549,267, issued to Wurzer et al. on Dec. 22, 1970, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,429, issued to Terzian et al. on Feb. 7, 1978. An example is also shown in FIG. 8 of the Ritter patent mentioned below. It seems that most of the patents which have resulted from efforts to avoid dipping, disclose internally fed rollers. Examples are found in the following U.S. patents:
______________________________________ Patent No. Inventor Date Issued ______________________________________ 2,743,469 Ditch 5/01/56 2,882,541 Easley 4/21/59 3,231,151 Clark et al. 1/25/66 3,457,017 Bastian 7/22/69 3,879,140 Ritter 4/22/75 3,933,415 Woolpert 1/20/76 ______________________________________
The Ditch patent discloses a paint roller internally supplied through the handle tube. O-rings 16 mounted in the hubs 15 of the roller, seal the hubs to the tube.
The Easley roller is supplied through a roller mounting tube and through radially extending apertures in a wood, not-absorbent roller core. The paint is supplied to a roller cover made of wool or other material. The roller mounting tube is connected to a pressurized paint source. O-ring 23 in bearing sleeve 19 prevents leakage of paint outward between the bearings and tube.
The Clark et al. patent FIG. 3 discloses the use of a non-absorbent sleeve 74 mounted to the handle. It serves to occupy space in the roller and radially distribute paint from the handle tube or "conduit portion" 72. This is an effort to address the problem encountered in some prior art rollers where there is so much paint contained in the roller that the paint cannot be controlled by the cover and drips after the paint supply is shut off. The extra paint is also very heavy and tiresome for the operator to use. Such a problem might exist in the roller of FIG. 2 of the Ritter patent.
In the Woolpert patent, there are roller-type paint applicators in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, the latter showing an edger in contrast to the cylindical rollers of FIGS. 7 and 8. In FIG. 8, there is shown a sponge roller 114 with a fitted fabric sleeve cover 130, all of which is mounted over a foraminous tube 110.
Some additional prior art specifically related to internally fed rollers, includes the following:
______________________________________ Patent No. Inventor Date Issued ______________________________________ 860,078 Binks 7/16/07 2,606,334 Vaden et al. 8/12/52 2,965,911 Hempel et al. 12/27/60 3,134,130 Chadwick II 5/26/64 3,539,268 Stebbins 11/10/70 3,554,659 Stokes 1/12/71 3,776,645 Walker 12/04/73 3,826,581 Henderson 7/30/74 3,887,823 Leland 4/15/75 Re.29,311 Ritter 7/19/77 ______________________________________
In the above patents, Binks provides a supply of paint to, and surplus removal from, the interior of a roller (FIG. 1), a pad (FIG. 3), and a brush (FIG. 5). Vaden discloses a plastic roller body with a sheepskin cover and threaded nut securing the cover to the roller. It has a delivery control valve push button 16 on the handle.
Hempel et al. discloses a polyurethane stationary wiper core in a self-contained inking roller. Chadwick shows a belt-type roller.
The Stebbins patent discloses a roller having a paint supply tube with an aperture centered longitudinally of the roller. The roller also has annular chambers 50 and 52 within a perforated rigid sleeve or cardboard tube 28 to which the fibers 32 are affixed.
Stokes shows one or two internally fed rollers mounted to paint supply spindles.
Walker shows roller-type applicators in FIGS. 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11, and also various types of pad applicators including pointed pads. Henderson discloses a roller having a plurality of radial ports longitudinally spaced and circumferentially spaced on the cover base 21 to supply the pile 20 of the roller.
The Leland patent is one example of a fountain-type paint roller with a supply of paint carried in the roller itself. It is an interchangeable cartridge for a roller handle unit.
The Ritter patent is a reissue of the earlier one mentioned above. The roller of the present application is different from the foregoing in that it employs a stack of core segments and an unusual seal. There is a U.S. Pat. No. 3,230,570 issued Jan. 25, 1966 to Flippen. it uses a stack of annular foam-plastic members 112 to receive and apply paint to a surface such as a parking lot. Another type device using discs is a wet lime marker for athletic fields and the like shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,778,046 issued Jan. 22, 1957 to A. L. Fisher.
The present invention is directed to providing a roller which contains a minimum quantity of paint and yet evenly distributes it, is reliable in operation, and easily disassembled for cleaning.